Two weeks’ worth of catch-up

So it turns out the word plugin I had installed for my blog hasn’t been working for about two weeks. Since I’ve been on the road for work for the majority of that time I haven’t spent any time on the actual blog. My bad. And of course I didn’t keep any copies of the four blogs I’d (thought I had) posted. Let me see if I can summarize three games in one blog and do a brief Hawaii preview.

Three games into life without Kenneth Cooper. A big home win over Idaho and losses on the road at Fresno and Boise.

A quick look at the minutes played before I dive into analysis.

Starters for all three games {minutes played}
Rolle – 92 minutes
Rogers – 52 minutes
Guyton – 85 minutes
Gibson – 85 minutes
Loe – 98 minutes

Bench
Jackson – 72 minutes
Ashalou – 60 minutes
Oliverson – 24 minutes
Behre – 17 minutes
B Gibson- 3 minutes {did not make road trip –flu}

The win over Idaho {74-63} was a complete team effort. Shot 55% from the field and only had 12 turnovers. Lead the majority of the game and rode the home crowd to the victory.

Fresno was a good game. For a half. What was a four point deficit at the half got ugly quickly. Tech shot 18% for the second half and went 0 for 12 from three. I don’t care who you are playing you are getting blown out in that game.

I was worried going into Boise after the turrible (thank you Sir Charles) performance in the second half at Fresno. All the ingredients were there for another blowout. A young team with too many guys playing too many minutes on the second part of one of these brutal WAC road trips. But it was a pleasant surprise (for the most part). Tech led late on the road and had a chance to tie with less than twenty seconds left. Thank you to my slingbox to get to watch this one live while in Boston. If you travel a good deal on business it makes sense to buy one.

On to thoughts on the players

Rolle – made the move to the five with Cooper’s departure.
Idaho – good active day for the big man. 7 for 10 from the field, 17 points, 9 rebounds, and two blocks (he always seem to come up with a key block late in ball games).
Fresno – foul trouble and a 3 for 10 from the field day. Finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and three blocks.
Boise – His coming out party. Scored the first ten points of the afternoon and dominated the ball game at times. Just look at these numbers. A perfect eleven for eleven from the field. 23 points. 10 rebounds. 3 blocks. 2 steals.

Stop and look at Rolle’s numbers since Cooper left – 68% shooting, 15 points, 10 rebounds, and almost three blocks a game. That’s all league numbers.

Rogers – old man Rogers gets the open starting spot. Still the same limited player that he always has been. If it is not a face up 8-12 foot jumper on offense he has nothing. Long story short he’s an undersized four who is too slow to guard anyone with any quickness. Really just taking up space on the court.
Idaho – 2 points, 2 rebs, 4 fouls. In 17 minutes.
Fresno – 0 points, 1 reb , in 20 minutes. Didn’t even foul anybody. How do you play 20 minutes in the paint and not commit one foul?
Boise – 0 points, 1 reb in 15 minutes.

Guyton – streaky shooter doesn’t care who is on the court. He’s going to shoot around ten shots a game. Some nights that’s good. Others not.
Idaho – 3 for 7 from the field. 1 of 4 from three but the one was a four point play. Great day on the defensive end with 4 steals. Ended with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Fresno – what a first half. Guyton lit up Fresno for 17 of Tech’s 32. Then he and everyone else went cold. Final numbers – 6 for 14 FG, 5 of 11 from deep, 4 boards.
Boise – quiet night by his standards with only six shots. Ended 3 of 6. 1 of 3 from deep but the one was a big one late. Seven points. 2 boards.

Gibson – from maybe his best shooting performance of the year to his two worst.
Idaho – Home sweet home in the TAC. Gibson went off. 21 points, 6 rebs. 8 of 13 from the field. (61%).
Fresno – the exact opposite of Idaho. 2 for 10 from the field, 1 for 8 from deep, six points.
Boise – 2 of 12. 0 of 5 from three. Seven points. Amazingly Tech had a chance to win this ball game.

Loe – it should have stood out to you in the listing above that Loe has played the most minutes of anyone the last few ball games. Why you might ask if you’re read my comments on his play earlier in the season would Rupp risk that much time with him handling the basketball? Shouldn’t the freshman Behre be taking a majority of the minutes at the point by now? What’s the deal? There’s a twofold answer. One Behre is developing slowly. He still looks like a freshman who did not play basketball last year and he looks at times like a guy who was available in October. Secondly since the TCU game Loe has played much better. On the season his A/TO margin is 35/40 but in the conference play (7 games) his margin is 14/8 – a ratio (1.75) that would have him sixth in the WAC if he had enough assists per game (3.0 minimum). So he is to be commended for that improvement. And of course the coaching staff should be commended – players don’t get that much better by themselves in two months.
Idaho – 7 points, 2 assists (1 TO), hit a three, made some late free throws and had to get a good floor burn diving for a loose ball. This game is a great example of what Loe can be at his best. Not forcing anything.
Fresno – 3 points, 2 assists (2 TO), 5 rebs.
Boise – this game was the best and worse of Loe all wrapped into one. On a night when Gibson and Guyton were not scoring Loe put in what had to be a career high of eleven. He hit two threes (although even the television color analyst noted that the Boise defenders just stepped back and dared him to shoot – I think I pointed out several blogs ago teams had decided he was the guy to be a half step late on your rotation). Final numbers – 3 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from three. But that miss.

Worse decision I have ever seen a point guard make. Tech is down three. Boise is at the free throw line with around 20 seconds left. Boise misses the free throw. So it’s Tech ball and a one possession game. What does Loe do as the team leader? As a senior point guard? Set up a quick hitter to Rolle (who is 11 for 11) to try for a quick layup or drive and kick to either Gibson or Guyton (who just hit a three). No Loe decides to take his man off the dribble to the rim. And the defense collapses. Two wing players and a 6’8 post player collapse on the 6’0 Loe. Time to kick out? No. He forces a shot up that has no chance. Boise rebound. Tech fouls. They make free throws. Ball game.

Tech has now lost three WAC games (@ Hawaii, Nevada, @ Boise) in which they had a chance to tie or take the lead in the last 15 seconds. Win those three and you are 5-2 instead of 2-5. Makes a huge difference in the standings.

Quick look at the bench numbers over the last three games:

	Idaho	@ Fresno	@Boise
Jackson	5 pts, 4 rebs, 2 asts	8 pts, 6 rebs (3 for 10 F)	3 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts
Ashalou	6 pts, 6 rebs.	2 pts, 5 rebs	0 pts, 5 rebs
Oliverson	2 pts	0 pts, 3 rebs	0 pts 0 rebs
Behre	DNP	4 pts, 2 asts	2 pts
B Gibson	2 pts	DNP	DNP

 

Jackson’s numbers are similar to the role player he has been all season. Ashalou has doubled his (season) rebounding average in these three games with more playing time.

 

*Don’t usually talk too much about opposing players but Mac Hopson from Idaho is the best point in the league and the real deal. He got to the rim off the dribble whenever he wanted and almost brought his team back single handily. In fact that is the best Idaho squad since they’ve been in the WAC. Hopson shows how a good point guard can take an average team and give them a chance to be competitive (or steal a game like Idaho did in Reno) every night. Priority number one in recruiting is finding one of those. Actually one who will stay out of trouble.

 

Quick Hawaii preview: 9 – 10 overall and 1 -6 in conference. Yes Tech is their only conference victory. They are 0-4 on the road.

Here’s a link to my preview for the first game – https://fromtheblueseats.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/hawaii-preview/

Here’s a link to my review of the first game – https://fromtheblueseats.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/hawaii-recap/

Remember the WAC wins last season were all in Ruston – Idaho and the sweep of this duo in San Jose and Hawaii.

I’ll try to be more current in the future. I promise.